OK, here's a quick report on today. We got to the park about 11:45; it was raining and chilly. Rode the bus from Stop 2. They were out of ECVs with canopies, alas!
Crowd was, as you might expect, light. Went directly to the Opera House after a brief pilgrimage to the Fence around the burned area. Festivities aside, the area is mournful.
Nobody at the Opera House. We learned from a passerby that Dickens was off the schedule. There was no signage; the show was still in the Pathfinder. Now, I can understand that the paper has to be printed in advance, but the lack of signage was inexcusable. Not everybody has their silly App--or a phone to put it on. The cancellation (for the rest of the year--too many performers ill) should have been posted not only on the Opera House but also at the entrance, at the HH, and on the streets. Strike One.
So we made a dash for the Red-Gold Hall and Home for Christmas. Got good seats, though they did us no favors. We expected a down-home (as the title suggests), old-fashioned (ya know? OLD TIME Christmas?) show. What we got was mostly ear-splitting rock concert intermixed with a modicum of contemporary, non-denominational church pageant. My wife, my son, and I all came out with splitting headaches and dashed expectations. Maybe we were foolish to expect something having some connection to the theme, the era, the region. I know, I know: "Broadway." But Broadway is not--or, at least, was not when I was doing Broadway shows--all blaring noise and hammering drums and hard-rock guitar. Broadway knows (or, at least, knew) how to be soft and gentle, how to modulate to create mood, and how to employ its performers. Those poor folks were screaming to be heard above the overly-amplified instruments, and the strain on their voices was obvious to someone who knows voice. I had looked forward to an entertaining alternative to the low-rent IWL, but what I got was High School Musical for the Deaf. Strike Two.
Well, my son wanted to shop for some blown glass ornaments, and he found three that he liked but allowed himself to purchase only two. He came home with beautiful, hand-crafted pieces that will become family heirlooms. Stand-up double.
On to the thing hard to mess up: the train. Had a great time mixing it up with the clowns--eh, conductors--on the platform. The train was on time, and we got to ride the old cars (Bonus!). Some of the lights were out at Grandpa's place, but the sound was crystal clear (and not deafening!). (In fact, some 2% or 3% of the lights around the city were out, but I guess we can't fault them for not fixing them at this point.) The soundtrack on the train was also very clear, and the ride went off without a hitch. It was amusing to see a handful of pumpkins down the hill to the left at Grandpa's place ;-) A clean slide into third, driving in the batter on second.
Buy 4 o'clock, the rain was gone, the sun was shining, and the crowd was mushrooming. We skipped out cleanly and quickly and hit the road before the the wall-to-wall events of the parade and tree igniting, neither of interest. A quick, no-waiting ride on a tram to Lot 2, and a smooth escape up the hill. Definitely batting the man on third home.
So we'll call the day 3 - 2 in our favor (it's darned hard to totally wreck a day at SDC, after all!). I don't know what the future of Home for Christmas is, but it is not likely at all that we will see it again if it returns. They can't please everybody, and most of the people there cheered, so I guess they hit their target audience. It's just a shame to see so much talent misused to do it. We try to see Dickens with its new score next year. We are thankful to all our friends there--we had a quick chat with Terry and another with our photographer friend--including the train crew.
We have made the first payment on our 2022 Season Passes. May the New Year bring many opportunities to make Memories Worth Repeating!
